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“So should we be wearing garlic around our necks?” Suzanne laughed.
“This is serious, Suze. And no, garlic won’t do any good. That’s a myth.”
“Bell, this whole darn thing is a myth. Your grandmother was obviously off her rocker. Is there Alzheimer’s in your family?”
“Not that I know of. Then again, I know next to nothing about the O’Days.” Isabella shook her head. “My grandmother wasn’t crazy. Dougal would have mentioned it if she were.”
“Would he? Maybe he didn’t know.”
“He’s lived here for years.”
“That’s another thing. Why would Dougal and Damian live here? After all—” Suzanne quickly closed her mouth. She had promised Damian she wouldn’t tell anyone he was David Branson. But the question haunted her. Why would he and his father continue to live in a drafty old castle with no electricity, when they could afford to live wherever they wanted?
“I don’t know why they live here. Maybe Dougal felt a responsibility to stay with Merlina.”
“Don’t you think we should ask them about Merlina? About whether she had all her, you know, faculties?”
Isabella nodded.
Talk of Damian and Dougal sparked a memory. “Damian knows Merlina was a witch. He told me last night.”
“Did he? How did it come up?”
Suzanne giggled. “I told him about our naked dance under the full moon and that you were a witch.”
“Oh.”
“But Bell, there’s a big difference between believing you’re a witch—”
“We don’t believe, we know,” Isabella said adamantly.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Suzanne rolled her eyes. “Knowing you’re a witch and believing in vampires are two completely different things.”
“I won’t argue with you there.”
“Tell me more of this fairy tale, then. What else did you find about these alleged vampires?”
“Now you’re talking like a lawyer.”
“I am a lawyer.”
“Right.” Isabella smiled. “They live longer than humans. Their normal life span is about five hundred years. And although the sun won’t necessarily kill them, they are extremely sensitive to it. They can’t go out in daylight without sunscreen, and even then, they will probably burn within half an hour. Most of them avoid going out during the day.”
“Which explains the nightlife in Padraig.”
“What do you mean?”
“The other night, when I went out. It was lit up like Vegas.”
“Hmmm. Are you beginning to believe, my skeptical cousin?”
Suzanne caught herself. Was she beginning to believe? “No, that’s not it.”
“Anyway, they need blood to survive. But most of them either drink from each other or subsist on animal blood. The sheep farms around here supply a lot of blood to the vampire population.”
“Oh God.” Suzanne clutched her stomach. Just the thought of it… She closed her eyes, hugging herself. Her arms suddenly felt chilled, and she rubbed the goosebumps in an attempt to warm herself with the friction. Her heartbeat quickened, and a vision appeared in her mind, of Rex Donnelly leading her behind Café Oxter and pushing her into the arms of a large blond man. Rex’s low voice telling the men not to take too much, that he’d bring more later. Six hands poking her, groping her, and then, on her neck?the scraping, the sharpness.
Teeth.
Fangs.
Damn.
They might have raped her, but sexual gratification hadn’t been their primary goal. They had wanted her blood.
She had been attacked by vampires.
24
“They have incredible strength, as well,” Isabella said. “The weakest vampire is as strong as the strongest human.”
“I’m sorry.” Suzanne jerked her head back toward her cousin. “What did you say?”
“They’re strong. Stronger than humans.”
“I see.” The fog of that perilous night cleared slowly, and images unfolded on a screen in her mind’s eye. The three men?were they indeed men??attacking her, her heart pounding, her fear a palpable mass of emotion. Their eyes full of hunger, their mouths salivating, their bodies crushed against hers.
Then, out of nowhere, Damian.
He had plowed them into the ground. All three of them. Three vampires with super-human strength, and Damian had pummeled them as if they were the dust beneath his feet. How?
Suzanne shuddered as she erased the images from her mind. They hadn’t been vampires. That was the only logical explanation. Damian couldn’t have beaten three vampires.
Of course they hadn’t been vampires. What had she been thinking? Vampires didn’t exist.
She inhaled, tried to relax and force the chills from her neck. “When does the electrician get here?”
“That was an abrupt change of subject,” Isabella said.
“I’m afraid I’m done with this nonsense, Bell. You’ll never get me to believe there are vampires in Padraig.”
Isabella sighed, closed the book on Suzanne’s lap, and placed it on top of her dresser. “To tell you the truth, Suze, I’m not so sure I believe it, either.”
“Now you’re talking sense,” Suzanne said. “What should we do today?”
“I need to stick around. I want to be here when the electrician comes.”
“Can’t Dougal take care of that?”
“It’s my castle now, so it’s my responsibility. Plus, I’m the one who’s going to be paying for it. I hope the cost won’t be too dire.”
